Tricool - cools spring waters
Tricool process chillers are providing critical
cooling on the bottling lines at Silver Spring’s
manufacturing facilities in Folkestone.
A family run business, Silver Spring has been bottling
water that flows from the Kent downs since 1870 and is
one of the oldest soft drinks manufacturers in the UK
Over 300 staff are employed at its factory, which
operates 24/7 through out the year. As well as producing
its own Perfectly Clear range of flavoured waters, the
company also contract packages fruit based waters for
most of the UK’s supermarket chains.
Unusually the company makes its own PET bottles and caps
and relies on Tricool’s chillers, which are essential to
the manufacturing process. The plant has seven injection
moulding and eight blow moulding lines and manufactures
up to 26,000 bottles per hour per machine totalling some
250 million bottles every year.
Injection moulding the preforms from PET granules
requires a temperature of 275ºC. Silver Spring uses a
Tricool TEC 140 air-cooled chiller together with two
multi circuit water-cooled chillers for the majority of
the preform and blow moulding production.
The neck size remains constant so the preforms are blown
from the neck downwards at 120ºC to the required bottle
size, then cooled before being filled. A Tricool TEC 450
air-cooled chiller used in a satellite area controls
temperatures for two additional blow moulders and for
‘flash pasteurisation’ on the line catering exclusively
for the company’s fruit juice based drinks.
“We have worked hand in hand with Tricool over a number
of years. It is very aware of our processes and the
environment. As the company has expanded the lines,
Tricool has custom-built each chiller required to our
own unique specifications,” says Steve Johnston, Silver
Springs’ Engineering Manager.
To maximise performance, energy efficiency and
reliability, Tricool designed multiple circuit chillers
and built in redundancy so that if one chiller fails the
manufacturing process is not interrupted.
“The chillers are worked hard but Tricool understands
our needs and ensured we have the right kit to meet our
cooling requirements,” adds Steve.
Silver Spring also relies on Tricool to service and
maintain the chillers to optimise performance levels and
as they are external and the factory so close to the
coast, minimising the effects of a hostile salt-laden
environment.
Email:
vikki.reynolds@industrialcooling.co.uk
Arundel Jones Associates Ltd
Hill Farm, Linton Hill, Maidstone, Kent ME17 4AL
Tel : 01622 745333
news@buildingdesign.co.uk
Registered in England and Wales No. 07334149
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